One Man
by Mockingbird917
Summary: Kenshin tries to deal with breaking his vow and a violent group of fighters. Violence and minor language.
1. Repercussions

Thanks to Vegeta26 for catching my mistake. Grrr, typos, the bane of my existence!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

They look at me as though I am different, but I honestly do not feel so different from this time yesterday. But Yahiko will not look me in the eye, and Miss Kaoru keeps glancing at the sword at my side when we speak.

Yes, I killed; I took a life that I had no right to take. Maybe I am the Battousai again, but I don't feel so different.

"Kenshin?" Miss Kaoru's voice sounded hesitant. I looked up from the soapy laundry basin. She was standing behind me with a small, hopeful looking smile on her face. "Dinner is ready," she said.

I gave her a smile and told her I would be right there. She left as I began to clean up the basin and set out the rest of the laundry. I had expected fear in their eyes when they found out what I had done. I had been afraid. I do not like feeling fear, that I do not. So why had they accepted it and me with such calm? They seemed cautious, but not of me. For me.

I started toward the dojo as the evening breeze rustled through my long hair. I approached the sliding doors when I couldn't help but over hear my friends' conversation.

"…did he seem?" This was Sano's voice. My hand froze just as it touched the door.

"Quiet," Kaoru said. "But then he's always quiet."

"He'll be fine," Yahiko said defensively. "This is Kenshin we're talking about."

"Is it?" Sano said quietly.

"Of course," Yahiko practically yelled. "What kind of stupid comment is that?"

"He's done something unforgivable. He is worried about becoming the Manslayer again."

"But we have forgiven him," Kaoru said. "There wasn't really anything to forgive."

"Yeah," Sano said. "But can he forgive himself?"

There was silence. I slid the door open. The three of them lifted their heads to look at me with slightly startled expressions. Sano was grimacing as he chewed through some of Miss Kaoru's cooking. Yahiko immediately looked down again at his meal.

I knelt at my seat by the table and tried to give Miss Kaoru a comforting smile. She returned it with a worried look before turning away from me. They stared at the table awkwardly and I felt awful for having caused this uncomfortable silence.

I sighed. I wanted to tell them not to worry for me but I could not. I wished someone would say something, anything. We ate silently. When the meal was finished I stood and began to clear the table. Sano disappeared and Yahiko went to finish some chores before going to bed. Miss Kaoru helped me carry the dirty dishes into the kitchen and I began cleaning up.

"Kenshin?" she said with the same hesitancy as before. I looked up from my work. "If you want to talk…about anything, you can trust me."

"Miss Kaoru, it is very sweet of you to care for this unworthy one, but I am fine."

Suddenly I found myself ducking the flying cookware that flew past my head. "Kenshin, you big jerk!" Miss Kaoru said angrily. "You are not as 'fine' as you always let on! If you just talk to one of us then we'd know what was going on in that stupid head of yours!"

I stared at her in stunned silence, unsure what type of response the outburst merited. She looked at me for second then stomped out of the room with a frustrated, "URG!" leaving me to finish the dishes alone.

Sitting down on the steps outside, I leaned back on my palms and gazed at the stars. The image of that man sliding off the edge of my sword flashed in front of my eyes. I flinched at the image and squeezed my eyes shut. I rocked forward resting my head between my knees. The image was gone as quickly as it had come. 

Then I heard the sickening sound of his body hitting the floor. The sweet smell of fresh blood assaulted my nostrils. "No," I whispered. Suddenly there was a light touch on my shoulder. 

Kaoru's POV

I found Kenshin sitting on the steps outside the kitchen. His head was between his knees, both hands clamped over his ears. I watched him from the doorway for a moment. Before I thought about what I was doing, my hand was on his shoulder. I felt the need to comfort this man who had saved my life and so many others many times.

He must have been quite upset because when I touched him, he actually flinched, making me wonder if he had known I was there at all. He had always been so strong for me and now it was my turn to repay the favor.

His lilac eyes were obscured for a moment beneath his thick red bangs. I sat down beside him. If he did not want to talk, fine. My anger was gone. All I could do was stay beside him and help however he let me.

We sat like that for a while, neither speaking nor even looking at each other. Our necks were craned to watch the heavens above us.

"You aren't the manslayer," I said quietly. He looked at me with surprise.

"How do you know?" Kenshin's quiet voice asked in all seriousness.

"You killed one man that deserved to die. That can't mean that you've lost who you've become."

He sighed. "I used to think I could tell who deserved death." He avoided my eyes. "You know I fear becoming the manslayer again, but I do not think you understand what I was."

"I don't care who you were, Kenshin," I said. "I've said before, I care about you, the rurouni."

He smiled at me, but his eyes were sad. "I'm not two men. Just because I have changed does not mean that I have fully become another man." He paused. "When I speak of the manslayer, he is not some other personality separate from the rurouni. What I fear is the lack of control I had when I was young. I did not just kill people because it suited me. I killed because I felt it was a necessary thing. I was too stupid, too undisciplined to see my mistake."

I watched him intently, wondering what made him speak so much all of a sudden. Understanding Kenshin's past had always been difficult task. Anytime one question was answered, more seemed to exist. And he never helped me understand.

"I found much later, that I was wrong," he continued. "I understand now that death solves nothing. I have no right or reason to take others' lives." He paused looking at the ground. "I can never become the man I was during the revolution, that I can't. But I fear losing that understanding more than anything in the world."

A/N: Well there you have it. It just annoyed me that so many people talked about Kenshin reverting back into the manslayer like someone going back in time. Please let me know what you think. Grammar and spelling errors drive me batty so if you spot one let me know.


	2. Enter the Antagonist

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kaoru's POV

It was just before lunch when Sano showed up, not that that was particularly surprising. Sano always seemed to visit right before a meal. I was in the kitchen when he came in.

"Hey Kaoru!" he said in his most obnoxious voice. "You're making lunch!?" He sounded disappointed as well as a bit surprised.

"And what's wrong with that?" I yelled at him. I'm not _that_ bad of a cook. "If you want to eat anything, you'd better keep your big mouth shut, Sano!"

He gave a sort of lopsided, puppy dog grin that I suppose he thought was charming. Rubbing one hand through his gravity-defying hair, Sano tried to sneak a bite of some of my ingredients lying on the counter behind him.

"Sano!" I yelled. Does he think I'm blind! "Why don't you go and pester Kenshin until lunch is ready," I said through my clenched teeth as I shoved him out the door that he came in through a few seconds ago. "I'll call you both in when it is." And I slid the door shut behind him.

For all that I gave Sano a hard time, I was glad he had finally showed up. He had disappeared rather quickly after dinner last night. I think this entire ordeal with Kenshin made him uncomfortable, but that was no excuse to just abandon his friend!

After our conversation the last night, Kenshin had barely said two words together and they had been "Miss Kaoru," which I hardly think counts. He had been right when he said I did not understand; how could I? Although we all cared for Kenshin, none of us had any way of knowing what he was going through.

I knew why he had killed that man, I thought as I added some salt to the stew simmering over the fire. He had become angry. I had barely recognized him as the rurouni that washed the laundry out in the yard, but everyone was entitled to lose control once. I hoped he knew that.

I noticed a slight burning smell, and quickly began to stir the thick stew. Too thick, I realized with a groan. I guess I really am _that_ bad of a cook. 

I was grateful that the police had decided Kenshin had enough reason to kill that man. He would have accepted any punishment they saw fit to give him, but I knew Kenshin would give himself enough punishment, more than the law was capable of inflicting.

And at any rate, I thought stirring the stew more vigorously than was really necessary, the man was a criminal. He had set fire to two buildings and threatened _us_ personally. That last I knew was the cause for Kenshin's lose of control.

I felt a twinge of guilt as I took the stew off the heat and began taking the rest of lunch out to the table. Once again, Kenshin had been hurt because of us. Oh, I knew Kenshin would not see it that way, but I did and I wished I had been stronger. Then maybe Kenshin would not always feel the need to protect me.

I finished setting the table and then headed out to the practice yard to get Sano, Yahiko, and Kenshin.

Kenshin's POV

I was almost happy carrying up water from the well to the bathhouse. Perhaps happy was a bit strong but it did keep my mind off of other more serious things. 

"Kenshin!" Yahiko said. I got the feeling he had been calling me for a while. 

"Yes, Yahiko?" I said silently chastising myself for my lack of attention. You are making every one worry about you, I thought.

Yahiko rolled his eyes at my distraction. "Have you seen my bokkan? I swear I put back on its rack."

"Over there," I said, nodding my head toward the steps of the dojo.

Running up to the steps, Yahiko picked up the wooden sword from the grass. "Thanks, Kenshin." He gave me a quick smile before starting on his practice routine on the lawn. It was a quick reminder of what I was trying so pathetically to protect.

I continued walking toward the bathhouse carefully to ensure that I did not spill any of the water. Just as I started to pour the water into the bath, I saw Sano came out of the kitchen. More like, Sano getting shoved roughly out of the kitchen, actually.

"Kenshin!" he yelled jovially with a wave as he started over toward me. I set down the buckets as he came up to me. "Hey, when I was in town last night I heard some things about that guy."

That guy. There was no question about which he meant and I shifted my eyes away from him uncomfortably. At least Sano did not seem to think the topic was too touchy to bring up with me the way Yahiko and Miss Kaoru did.

"What's that, Sano?" I asked, picking up the buckets again. If he wanted to discuss this, he would have to walk and talk. Besides, it gave me something to do other than trying not to seem awkward. I headed back toward the well, and Sano kept pace.

"Well," he said around some pilfered food in his mouth. "Apparently this guy is part of a anarchist group. You know, they don't want any government in Japan."

"I know what an anarchist is," I said slightly annoyed.

Sano gave me a sideways look, but did not say anything about my abrupt comment. "Anyway," he continued, "they've mostly been trouble in Kyoto. I don't know why they'd come here, but I think we'll see more of them."

My gut told me that Sano was probably right, but I felt irritated for some reason so I was not about to admit it. I suppose even though I had only dealt with one member of group, I felt that he had caused me enough grief. No, I thought, this is my fault. Stop trying to blame someone else. I lost control. I killed him. The grief is mine.

Sano was still waiting for my reaction. "Of course, Sano," I said suddenly. "I'm sorry for being short; I guess I am distracted, that I am."

"Hey guys!" Miss Kaoru yelled from the kitchen door. "Lunch!"

I smiled a Sano. "We can talk about this later," I said as we started toward the dojo. "They aren't going to cause a revolution while we eat."

A/N: I guess that's a bit short. I know I said this was going to be a one shot fic but a couple people asked me to continue it and I'm gullible. Please let me know what you think. If I don't get any feed back, I'll delete this chapter and go back to just the first one. Also, please report any typos or mistakes. Hmm, anything else? Guess not, peace out.


	3. A Small Confrontation

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kenshin's POV

I was not paying as much attention to my surroundings as I normally did. I had a lot on my mind and walking into town to pick up a few things hardly required my full attention. Fortunately, Yahiko seemed content to walk in silence.

I had come to suspect that Sano, Yahiko, and Miss Kaoru had made a decision to never leave me by myself. Unsure as to why they felt this was necessary, I was coping with it nonetheless. And that was why Yahiko was escorting me into town.

If I had been paying more attention, I would have noticed much sooner that someone was following us, but as it was, it took me a few moments. 

Yahiko was oblivious to the man walking perhaps thirty yards behind us, and I made no move. As long as he kept his distance, I was willing to allow him to continue. 

However, soon after I noticed the stalker, he picked up his pace and began cutting the distance between us. I knew he thought he was still undetected. That is until Yahiko glanced back. He's a smart kid, but I wished at the moment he was a little less observant or perhaps a little more nonchalant.

He immediately turned to me and said, rather loudly, "Hey Kenshin, there's some guy following us!" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. If the man had not heard Yahiko, then he was completely deaf.

Now avoiding any sort of confrontation with this man was impossible so I stopped and turned around. "Hello there," I called out in a friendly tone. "Do you need help? Perhaps you are lost."

I knew that was not the case, but I still gave in to wishful thinking. The man was dressed simply enough, but he had several short throwing daggers poorly concealed on his person. And his eyes were the narrow eyes of a fighter.

He did not even bother with the act but immediately drew two of his daggers and threw them with deadly precision at Yahiko's throat. As soon as he made the move for his weapons, my sword was drawn and the tofu bucket was dropped on the side of the road.

I spun my sword quickly as I jumped in front of a stunned Yahiko. My sword was a grayish blur in front of us. Acting as a shield, it easily deflected the two daggers. It was done in one fluid motion that I had barely been aware of. Lately I was moving more on instinct.

The stalker turned attacker did not seemed at all surprised at the failure of his attack. I sheathed my sword and we just stared at each other for a moment. Yahiko tried to move up to stand beside me but I pushed him back with one hand. I felt better having him protected behind me.

"You are the battousai," the man said. It was not a question so I did not reply. 

At any other time I might have smiled and said, "That was a very long time ago, and I doubt such a man exists in such peaceful days, that I do," but now…I had my doubts that that sort of man could ever cease to exist.

"Kenshin!" Yahiko said loudly from behind me. "Who is this bozo? What's going on?"

"That's exactly what I would like to know," I said, keeping my eyes on the man in front of us. He was still armed and I was not going to drop my guard.

"I am part of an organization I believe you have recently had some contact with," he said boldly.

The anarchists, I thought, remembering my conversation with Sano earlier. With a small twinge of regret, I wished I had given Sano my complete attention. Now here I was with Yahiko in danger and I knew next to nothing about this man.

He was watching me carefully, trying to gauge my responses. I was careful to give him nothing to work with. "I'm authorized to offer you any kind of pay you can imagine. If you come with me, we can talk about this somewhere more private."

"That won't be necessary," I said, keeping my voice blank of emotion even though I was fuming on the inside. How dare he come and threaten Yahiko then have the gale to think I was just going to walk off with him to do his absurd little group's dirty work! "I am not for hire."

I turned around and nudged Yahiko in the direction of town. He started to make some protest, but stopped when he saw my face.

We had not taken two steps when I heard the whistle of two more daggers fly toward us. My left arm shoved Yahiko roughly to the ground as I drew my sword with my right and deflected the steel missiles easily.

This time there was a hint of shock in the man's eyes when I turned to face him. And of fear. It took me a moment to remember myself. I did not want to see fear in the eyes of those around me any more. Carefully I forced myself to control the rage building inside of me.

I may have broken my vow, but I was not going to let one loss of control lead to countless others. I _was_ in control of myself. I had to be.

I bent over and offered Yahiko my hand. He took it, stunned, and pulled himself upright. The man had disappeared as soon as I took my eyes off of him, but I was not worried. Those had been his last two weapons.

"Are you alright?" I asked watching as he brushed some of the road dust off his clothing.

"Fine," he looked up at me with questioning eyes. "What was all that about?"

"I am not entirely sure," I answered truthfully.

"But he said you had been in contact with them?" Yahiko looked a bit hurt. I think he must have thought I was keeping secrets.

"I assume he was referring to the man who threatened to burn down the dojo," I said dryly. I quickly collected the discarded daggers that were stuck in the soft dirt of the road.

"What are you going to do with those?"

"It would be dangerous to just leave them here, that it would," I said almost cheerfully. "Anyone could just come across them."

We walked the rest of the way to town without incident. My mind kept wandering over small details of the encounter with the unnamed anarchist. The daggers were well made, balanced throwing daggers, and I suspected that they were made in Tokyo, not Kyoto. That could mean two things in my mind. Either the group has had ties to Tokyo for some time, or they were expanding their influence. Either way, I knew that they were going to cause me more trouble than I wanted. I was going to have to do some investigating before things got out of hand.

A/N: I'm not getting too much feedback on this so I'll just keep going until I get writer's block. I haven't gotten any criticisms either, and I just want to say, that if there's something I can improve, I'd like to know what it is.


	4. Smell of Jasmine and Blood

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kaoru's POV

I smelled. Though I enjoyed pushing my body to its physical limits, it did annoy me that there was a certain lose of femininity. I had just finished sparring with Yahiko as well as my own practice routine, and I was ready for a nice, long bath.

Since Kenshin had already drawn the bath water for me, all I had to do was heat it and the bath would be ready. I grabbed some jasmine scented soap from my room before heading out, hoping to make up for that lose of femininity just a little.

As I crossed the practice lawn, it occurred to me how quiet the dojo could be when all the boys were out. Kenshin and Yahiko had just left to buy some things for dinner tonight and Sano probably would not be back until there was another opportunity for free food. The silence was refreshing. Sort of.

I let myself soak a little longer than usual in the warmth of the bath. I could feel the water slowly loosening all of my tight muscles, and it felt wonderful.

By the time my fingers were puckered up like prunes, I hopped out of the bath and quickly toweled myself off. I gently twisted my long hair and squeezed the excess water out then pulled it up in a sloppy ponytail. 

I stepped out of the bathhouse humming to myself. There was a light breeze that felt cool on my damp skin and I shuddered slightly as it tickled my neck.

Something moved in the corner of my eye and suddenly someone grabbed me roughly from behind. An arm came over my shoulder to lock around my neck. But not for nothing am I the assistant Master of the Kamiya Kasim dojo. I grabbed my assailant's wrist and pulled his arm down hard across my shoulder. There was a sickening crack of bones right next to my ear.

While the attacker was still off balance, I elbowed him hard and pushed myself out of his reach. I spun around to face him. The man was of average build and height and dressed in plain clothes. He gave me a wicked smile when I knew he should be grimacing from a broken arm.

Although I had rendered his left arm useless, the man's right was still good and he drew a long knife out from behind his back. I was still holding my bath things under one arm and when he lunged toward me, I threw them at the attacker's face as I desperately dodged backwards.

With my wooden sword, I felt confident that I could beat this man, but I was practically unarmed. All I was holding was my towel, but it could be used.

The attacker regained his balance after his failed charge and he began to circle me. I watched him carefully, keeping myself on the defensive. He attacked again and this time I lunged forward, too, although about a foot to his right. Using my towel, I snapped it around his blade and wrist. While he was momentarily caught, I threw a punch with my other hand and hit him hard on the right cheek.

But I had slightly misjudged his speed, because his knife was clear of the towel before I had regained my balance. He slashed out at me and I took a clumsy step backward. But he had got his first hit. I felt a thin trickle of blood just below my jaw.

He grinned. I took my opportunity and swiftly kicked him in the stomach with all the strength I could muster. Then he actually dropped his knife in surprise. We both dove for it. We wrestled for a moment, but it was clear I was going to win. The attacker was both winded and severely hurt.

I was finally able to push him away and grip the knife. I stood, holding the knife in front of me defensively. Although I was inexperienced with knife fighting, I now had all of the advantages. When the man stood, I could see from his eyes that he knew it too.

"Yield," I ordered through my ragged breathing. I was still holding the knife in front of me.

The man looked at me for a moment, then with a yell, did the last thing I would ever have suspected: he ran into the blade. I stared, shocked, at my hand holding the hilt of the knife embedded in the man's ribs. Blood flowed around the hilt guard onto my hand and I fought the urge to gag.

With a disgusted groan, I threw the man backwards and he hit the ground with an ungainly thud. 

Kenshin's POV

As we came in through the gate at the dojo, I immediately got the feeling something was wrong. I could smell blood. A lot of blood. Miss Kaoru, I thought as panic took over. I shoved the packages I was holding at Yahiko and ran into the dojo.

"Miss Kaoru?" I yelled. It seemed so empty. Where was she?

I hurried through the back door and stepped out onto the practice yard. Then I saw her. She was standing about thirty feet away from the bathhouse holding a knife and standing over a prone form. With a catch of breath in my throat, I sprinted over to her.

She was covered in blood, though thankfully, most of it did not seem to be hers. She looked at me with shock in her perfect cobalt eyes. "Kenshin?" she said very quietly. The man lying on the grass in front of us was not breathing.

"Kenshin!" Yahiko echoed from the dojo. He stood at the door I had left open.

"Yahiko," I called to him. He did not need to see this. "Go, run to the clinic and bring Miss Megumi!" Yahiko paused only a second before he turned and ran out the way he had come in.

I grabbed Miss Kaoru by the shoulders and turned her away from the corpse on the lawn. She dropped the bloody knife in her hand. Why had I left her all alone? "Miss Kaoru," I said. She looked up at me again, slowly. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

She swallowed and I could see her beginning to regain some of her composure. "No," she said shaking her head. "Nothing serious." She glanced over at the body. "Is he…"

"I'm not sure," I lied. I led her over to the stairs of the dojo. "You sit here and I will do what I can for the man." I pushed her shoulders down, forcing her to sit. "If you feel sick, put you head between your knees."

I hurried back to the dead man. Kneeling beside him, I recognized him as the man who had stopped Yahiko and I just about half an hour ago. With a silent curse at myself, I thought, _You idiot. You left her here alone when you had every reason to believe she would be in danger. Damn it, why didn't you see it?_

With an angry sigh, I leaned forward and closed the man's glazed eyes and straightened his limbs. Although I thought I should check his pockets for anything that might tell me something about the man, I did not dare with Miss Kaoru watching. I felt certain, she would not react well right now.

I stood up and walked back to her. Well, I may be little comfort to her now, after she had needed me, but I would do what I could until Miss Megumi came.

A/N: That was my first fight scene so I'm sorry if it wasn't very good. It was rather difficult to write. Please review and let me know what you think. Peace out.


	5. The Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Sanosuke's POV

Kenshin, Yahiko, and I all knelt around the table waiting to hear from Megumi after she was done with Kaoru. I had never seen Kenshin so upset. Of course that was relative. The guy was practically a rock.

So how did I know he was upset? Well first of all, Kenshin had not said two words since I had got to the dojo with Yahiko and Megumi. Yahiko had told me the entire story about their encounter with one of the anarchists on the road. And although Yahiko added a lot of comments about how fast, brave, and generally invincible Kenshin was, Kenshin had never blushed or tried to correct Yahiko.

In fact I was pretty sure that Kenshin had not heard anything said since Megumi had kicked us all out of Kaoru's room. 

But really what told me that he was dangerously upset was the fact that he had not put his sword on the rack. Although he took his sword with him everywhere, when he was in the dojo, Kenshin put it away with the other wooden swords. But now, I saw him occasionally lay his hand on the hilt as if to reassure himself that it was still there.

"Hey, brat," I said to Yahiko suddenly. He looked up to glare at me. I grinned and said, "Why don't you go get us something to drink."

"Listen stupid," he yelled at me from across the table. "You know we don't keep sake in the dojo so if you're so thirsty go the Akabeko!"

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I meant some tea or something!"

Yahiko looked at me in surprise. Kenshin actually looked up from his clasped hands to look, too. "Oh for crying out loud!" I said throwing my arms in the air. "I drink tea…sometimes. What?" I asked Kenshin as he regarded me strangely.

Kenshin stood up and head for the door.

"Wait! Where are you going," I said jumping up. The last thing I needed was Kenshin going to hunt down these punks.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "To boil water."

"Oh," I said rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment. "Why don't I just go with you then?"

Kenshin pulled open the door and stepped outside. We started over to the well. "Tell me everything you know about this group." I immediately did not like his tone of voice. He was not acting like his normal overly polite self. That had almost sounded like a command.

I only hesitated a moment before saying, "They are hiring every fighter and assassin in Tokyo. They probably want to kill off as many political leaders as possible in a short amount of time."

"Were you approached?" Kenshin was not facing me as he pulled a bucket of water up. He put it up on the side of the well and turned to look at me. I noticed with relief that his eyes were still lilac and not the cold amber that his voice may have suggested.

"Yeah." A lot of people still thought of me as Zanza the fighter for hire.

Kenshin began to walk back to the dojo. "What did you say?"

"What do you mean?" I said surprised. "I said no of course!" He actually looked disappointed! I couldn't believe this!

"Relax, Sano." This time some of his normal calm penetrated his voice. "We merely have to find where this nest of rats is located. I had hoped they had not approached you so you could simply go along with them when they did."

We stepped into the kitchen and Kenshin filled the teapot with water and began heating it. "Are you ok?" I asked suddenly.

"Oro?" he said with obvious surprise.

"Well, um…" I stammered. Suddenly I felt very uncomfortable. "It's just that in there," I indicated the dining room, "I could have sworn you were fuming. But now, you just seem so…calm."

"Sano," he sighed and suddenly he seemed exhausted. He dropped his head slightly and his red hair obscured his eyes. "I am fine, that I am. I was angry about this, but I am in control of my emotions."

I watched him for a moment. "I'm angry, too." It was a pathetic attempt to comfort, but it was the best I could do. He gave me a small smile and I think he understood that.

The door slid open and Megumi stepped into the kitchen.

"Well?" I asked.

"Really, she's fine. She has a small nip under her chin, but mostly she is just a bit shaken up." Megumi glanced over at Kenshin. "She wants to talk to you."

Kenshin nodded and stepped out of the kitchen.

Kenshin's POV

I tapped lightly on the door to Miss Kaoru's room. I was more nervous about going in there than I had been about anything in a long time. I wondered if I take her anger and disappointment in me. I would have to.

"Come in," came Miss Kaoru's soft voice.

I slid the door open and stepped inside. Miss Kaoru was seated cross-legged on her futon. Although I could not see her face because of the poor light, I felt certain what emotions I would see there. I knelt and leaned my head on the floor.

"Miss Kaoru, I am truly sorry that I abandoned you here after I caused you to be in danger. If you ask me to leave, I will."

I did not look up as I heard her stand. Suddenly I felt something hit me hard over the head. I looked up and saw Miss Kaoru standing over me with an angry look on her face and her wooden sword in her hand. I had expected anger, but I have to admit that physical violence was unforeseen.

"Kenshin," she said with surprising tenderness for someone who had just tried to give me a concussion. She knelt in front of me and pushed my shoulders up right. "Kenshin," she repeated. "I am not angry with you for not being around and I am certainly not going to ask you to leave. Further more, in case you haven't noticed, I did just fine taking care of myself while you were gone."

"But…" I tried to protest.

"You need to stop trying to be responsible for everything and everyone around you," she said. "I am fine."

"You killed some one because of me," I said unable to meet her eyes. I felt her loss of innocence in that matter very keenly.

"No," she said firmly. I looked at her in confusion. "That man killed himself and used me as his weapon. And yes, that is upsetting, but I did not kill him." Then she practically yelled at me, "But if I had it would have nothing to do with you!" She stood up.

I hesitated and also stood. "What I really want to know is exactly what is going on? And don't tell me nothing is. Two men have died in the past three days around this dojo. " I marveled once again at this amazing woman's strength.

So I told her everything I knew and everything that had happened. She sat silently in thought for a moment after I finished. "Are you going to tell the police?"

"That hadn't occurred to me," I said truthfully. The police had been by to collect the man's body but it was pretty evident that he had attack Kaoru. They had asked few questions. And I not even thought of volunteering the rest.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Why do you insist on handling everything yourself? Let someone else handle this problem for once."

It was not completely unreasonable, I thought. The two men we had seen so far were not beyond the police's skills. Sure they had both caused quite a bit of trouble, but that was mostly due to the inopportune times and places.

"Very well," I said slowly. "I will try this your way, that I will." It would be strange to let someone else protect my friends and me, too. But I would try it for her sake.

A/N: Ok, I promise I'm going to get back to Kenshin's slaying it's just other things are overshadowing that at the present. Wow, can you believe how fast I've been updating? I wouldn't expect that to last long. One other thing, I think Kaoru may be a bit OOC in this chapter but I can't deal with whiny, weepy women. They drive me insane so I'm certainly not going to write one.

Note to del-kaidin : I was really elated to see another review from you since you gave me my very first review. I'm glad you've read the rest. THANK YOU!!!


	6. A Few Revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kaoru's POV

I had slept well last night thanks in good part I believe to the smelly brew that Megumi had made me drink before she left. No nightmares had disturbed me, but I doubted that would last. For all my bravado to Kenshin the other night, the thought of that man dying on my blade sent shivers up and down my spine.

Once I was dressed in my practice clothing, I headed for the kitchen. I would feel better after a light breakfast.

Sano was sitting just outside the kitchen door when I came up and appeared to be sleeping. However when I approached, he lifted his head and smiled at me.

"Here for breakfast?" I asked with a small smile.

"Hey," Sano said loudly. "For you information, I'm only here because Kenshin asked me to stay because he was worried about you!"

"Where is Kenshin then?" He wouldn't dare break his promise to me! He said he was not going after this group!

"He left…"

"You let him leave!" I interrupted. I felt the sudden need to beat him on the head. "Sano, you free-loading idiot! How could you let him leave!"

Sano watched me with wide eyes and waited for me to calm down. "He went to talk to the police," he said slowly. "Apparently that's what he thought you wanted…"

"Oh," I said quietly. I felt a blush creeping into my cheeks. Of course Kenshin would not lie. "Well, are you going to stay for breakfast?" I started for the kitchen again.

"Kenshin already made breakfast," Sano said. "You kind of slept in."

Kenshin had made breakfast. I felt even worse about doubting him now. He had not only done what I had asked him to, but he had made breakfast and he had been worried about me. 

I went into the kitchen and found the bowl of miso soup and white rice that Kenshin had left for me. I came back out and knelt opposite of Sano.

"Kenshin said you asked him to leave to these psychos to the police." Sano was giving me an unusually serious look.

"Yes," I said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, they aren't exactly intimidated by using force." Sano looked down. "I don't doubt that given the chance, they would have killed you and Kenshin."

"But they didn't," I said, starting to get annoyed. What was he trying to get at?

"Yeah, but if they are trying to get to Kenshin and they are willing to attack those around him, then how safe are we?" Sano sounded almost angry. "Besides, I think Kenshin needs to beat on of these guys in a fight."

I rolled my eyes as I swallowed some of my soup. "He did beat one; he killed him, remember?"

And then Sano had a rare insight that had completely passed me up. "That's not the way Kenshin sees it," he said to me. "He sees that he lost control and killed someone. And that's all; he lost."

I stared at him in amazement. Yes, that was it, wasn't it? Kenshin had told me that he feared losing the understanding that death solved nothing. And now he had killed in anger. I knew that he had lost control, but I had not thought of that as the actual blow to him. It had hurt him more than if he had lost an arm or leg and I had failed to see it that way.

I realized my mouth was hanging open and quickly shut it, hoping Sano had not noticed it. "You're right," I said quietly.

Now Sano rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you don't have to sound so damn surprised. I'm entitled to some common sense!"

"I suppose it was about due," I muttered under my breath. Suddenly I thought about the other thing Sano had brought up. This was a dangerous group we were dealing with. "Where's Yahiko?"

"Kenshin got him to scrub out the bathhouse. He's still out there."

I nodded. "I don't think any of us should be going anywhere by ourselves for a while."

Sano nodded in agreement. He sighed and said, "Well, I'm going to head out." He stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait a minute, Sanosuke!" I yelled. "Did you just hear what I said or are you deaf? It hasn't been three seconds and now you want to leave!" I grabbed his jacket sleeve as he tried to open the door.

"Kaoru, I think if you can handle one of those guys, I'll be fine," he said, annoyed.

"So you're going to leave Yahiko and I alone?" I asked, expertly playing the guilt card. I was more worried about Sano than us. I suppose it was probably unfounded, but I wasn't going ignore the threat now.

Sano groaned and shut the door he was halfway through. "Fine I'll stick around at least until Kenshin comes back, but he owes me," he mumbled.

Kenshin's POV

Although I had left the dojo fairly early in the morning, it was now early evening and I still had not returned. Kaoru would worry, no doubt, but I could not go home yet.

I had gone to the police just as I said I would and the man I had talked to had not taken it the way I thought he would. Ha, man! The kid was barely older than Yahiko and probably could not handle a simple vandalism case.

I bit my lip as if to stop myself from thinking such things. It was not that "man's" fault that the police were so busy. I did not used to have this problem. By the time I had left, my slight frustration had turned into an almost blinding rage. It had barely been controllable. It had…frightened me.

Was this what I had let out when I broke my vow? I felt exhausted just from being in a constant state of fury all day. Better exhausted though than murderous.

I started to head home. As I walked I began to think about how lucky I was. I had deserved nothing, and yet I had gained everything. A family, a home, a purpose in life. I suppose that purpose was protecting my family and home, but apparently I was not supposed to do that any more.

As I opened the gate to the dojo I felt an odd feeling of confusion. I sighed when something suddenly hit me hard in the chest. I took a step backwards as I looked down at Miss Kaoru hugging me firmly around my chest. I felt a blood rush to my head and I was sure I was blushing furiously.

As soon as I was able to pry myself loose, I received a hard slap on the face.

"You idiot!" she yelled at me. "How could you just leave and not come back for hours while we sat around worrying about you!"

I lowered my head. I had seen this coming and knew I deserved her anger. "This unworthy one is very sorry to have worried you," I said. I certainly could not come home with my emotions so out of control though, I thought to myself.

She finally gave me a small smile. "Where were you anyway?"

"Er," I stammered. I did not think she would react well to the truth and I was ashamed of my lack of control besides.

"Well, it doesn't really matter as long as you're back," she said cheerfully and began leading me back to the dojo. "I've been doing some thinking, and we really need to talk."

A/N: Oh, those dreaded words! Don't worry, this is a good thing. Yes, I know Sano is definitely OOC here but if someone didn't give Kaoru the hint, she might never figure it out. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!


	7. Some More Information

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kenshin's POV

Kaoru and I knelt silently for a moment at the table, sipping some tea she had made. Did this taste salty? I was imagining things. Who ever heard of salty tea? I took another sip. No, I was right the first time.

"Kenshin," she said finally. "I think I've made a mistake in asking you to leave these people to the police." She said it quickly as though she just wanted to spit it out.

"Oro?" I said with quiet surprise. I had come to the same conclusion, but that was because I had talked to the police. And I certainly was not planning on telling Miss Kaoru that. What had made her realize this?

"Well," she said awkwardly. "It's just that…um…maybe this group is more dangerous than I initially thought…"

"What happened?" I interrupted suddenly. I stood quickly, knocking over my cup of tea in the process. Yahiko and Sano! Where were they? Once again I had been away while they had been attacked!

"Kenshin, calm down!" she cried grabbing my hakama. I looked down at her questioningly. "Nothing happened, everyone is fine!"

"Oh," I said, flustered. I quickly grabbed a rag and began mopping up my spilt tea and muttering apologizes. Miss Kaoru leaned over and helped me clean up.

I went back to my seat with noticeably redder cheeks. Miss Kaoru gave me a small smile. "That's what I'm talking about, Kenshin," she said. "Your first thought is always protecting the people around you and it was stupid of me to ask you to not do that."

"What are you saying?" I asked feeling a little confused.

Miss Kaoru looked down at her lap and chew on her bottom lip a second. "You ought to handle this however you feel best."

I felt a wave of relief and an incredibly stupid grin spreading on my face. I stood slowly and so did Miss Kaoru.

"What are you going to do?" she ask hesitantly.

"I am going to bed," I said stifling a yawn. I felt like I had done nothing today, but I was completely exhausted.

Miss Kaoru smiled. "Good night, Kenshin."

Sanosuke's POV

__

Earlier…

"What's that you've got?" I asked Yahiko, only half interested in his answer. I had promised to stay until Kenshin came back, but I had not expected him to be out so long. He had left about an hour or so after sunup and it was now at least two hours past lunch. I was bored out of my mind.

Yahiko ignored my question and continued walking past me. I would have let him go, too, except I caught a glimpse of a metal blade through my half-closed eyes.

My hand shot out and grabbed it by the hilt. It was a balanced throwing dagger. "Where did you get this?" I asked, surprised. The brat certainly didn't have the money to buy it and there was no way Kaoru gave it to him.

"None of you business, idiot!" Yahiko yelled and made a swipe to grab the dagger back. I held it up, easily out of the twerp's reach. "Give it back," he demanded.

I rolled my eyes. "Where did you get this?" I repeated, this time slower so I could be sure the brat understood.

He stopped trying to grab the dagger and contented himself with glaring. "Kenshin gave it to me."

"No he didn't!" I said with a laugh. "The day Kenshin starts handing blades out to kids is the day Kaoru learns to cook!"

"I'm not a kid! And he did," Yahiko said with a small whine. "Sort of…" he mumbled.

"Sort of?" I asked.

"Yesterday, when we came home, Kenshin dumped everything we had bought in town in my arms. I guess I just forgot to give him the daggers back."

I rolled my eyes again. "Why would Kenshin buy daggers?"

"He didn't buy them. He picked them up after that guy attacked us on the road," Yahiko replied.

Ah, that made much more sense. "Go get the others."

Yahiko's face fell. "But Sano…"

"If you think Kenshin wanted you to have those, you're a stupider than even I thought. Now go get them, before I tell Kaoru you've got real blades." The threat did the trick and Yahiko stormed off to retrieve the other daggers.

I had never known Kenshin to be absentminded. The fact that he had forgotten about the daggers just proved he had not recovered fully from his first encounter with these guys.

Yahiko pouted for most of the rest of the day, although he certainly could not say anything to Kaoru without risking severe concussion.

I heard the front gate open about an hour after the sun went down. Kenshin was finally home which meant I could finally get out of here!

I slipped into Kenshin's room quietly first though, to leave three daggers on the floor next to his futon. The last I kept. I had a good idea whose work the daggers were and I planned to find out about the man who had bought them. Kenshin may have let Kaoru put a leash around his neck, but I was still free to try to figure out who these loonies were.

I left the dojo without saying goodbye to anyone. Kaoru would undoubtedly try to keep me here and I did not really feel like arguing with her. I was in a fairly good mood by the time I arrived at the weapon smith's place. Being cooped up at the dojo all day had been beyond boring.

I was thrilled to see the guy was still working at his forge. I stood at the door, waiting for him to finish pounding a katana blade into the correct shape. Finally he picked up the blade with a pair of tongs and lowered the hot blade into a bucket of water. There was a hiss of steam and he put the blade away.

"Zanza?" the soot faced man said with a look of surprise. "I had heard you no longer used weapons of any sort, that you prefer to just beat men with your bare fists. So how can this old weapon smith help you out?"

"Hey Kiyoshi," I said cheerfully. "It's been a long time, ne?"

Kiyoshi gave me a crooked smile as he wiped some of the soot off of his face. "What makes me think you aren't here to reminisce?"

I pulled out the dagger I had gotten from Yahiko and handed to the old man. "This is your work."

He took the dagger and balanced it on his finger. "Yeah," he said, looking up at me. "You have a good eye. Who'd it kill?" He handed the dagger back to me.

"No one," I answered. "The guy that bought it, bought three others exactly like it. I want to know everything you know about him."

Kiyoshi sighed and sat down on a three-legged stool behind him. He rested his hands on his knees and said, "I take it from your interest, that you're not an Asp?"

"Asp?"

"That's a no," Kiyoshi said with a smile. "The Black Asps is an anarchist group which has recently moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. My guess is the police forces in Kyoto were a lot tougher on them than the Tokyo police can afford to be. For all that they're pretty small scale, they do seem to have a lot of money. They are hiring every assassin and mercenary in town."

Kiyoshi paused. "I'm surprised they didn't snatch you up."

"They tried," I said. "Anyway…"

"Well, anyway," he continued. "This is big. I'm not sure what they are planning; they just buy my stuff, not let me in on all their plans. But I'm sure this is big."

"Do you know where they are staying?"

"All I know is it's somewhere near the docks."

Not real helpful, I thought. "Thanks, Kiyoshi." I turned and left. I smiled to myself. The hunt was on.

A/N: Well, I don't know if anyone else has been having problems but I haven't been able to get onto fanfiction.net so sorry it took me so long to update. One the plus side, I am practically done with the next chapter. Oh, one other thing. I was not real sure what the name for the type of pants Kenshin wears was but I think it is hakama. And since I had no idea where to look to figure it out, that could either be completely false or spelled wrong. If anyone knows what those funky pants are called, let me know before too many people think I'm an idiot.

A bit of randomness: I am an awful typer so I really try to proofread carefully. But imagine my mirth when I read that Sano liked to beat people with his bare fish. Hm, an interesting visual. That big oaf swinging two dead fish like they were nun-chucks.


	8. Some Explanations

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kenshin's POV

I woke up earlier than I normally do and with a slight headache. The night before I had practically collapsed on my futon and had sleep like a rock. That was very unusual for me, too. Since my days during the revolution I had been a light sleeper.

Once I was up and moving around, however, I felt better. I got dressed and began to straighten the sheets on my futon. Suddenly I felt something stab my left foot. I gave a small yelp of surprise and kind of fell-sat onto my futon.

I fumbled in the dark with the lantern I kept in my room, but finally got it lit. Peeking around the futon, I saw three daggers lying on my floor. I picked them up. They were the daggers that the man who had attacked Yahiko and I had used.

Two things about this discovery disturbed me greatly. First of all, three daggers lay on my floor. One was missing. The other troubling aspect was I had no idea how they had come to be on my floor. I had no recollection of seeing the daggers since I had picked them up off the roadside.

I reached down and tentatively picked on up, turning over in my hand as though I had never seen a weapon before. Double bladed with a sharp, stabbing point. A weapon with no other purpose than to rip flesh and spill blood. I dropped the hateful thing with a disgusted shudder. I never wanted to hold a weapon made for killing again.

Using a pillow from my bed, I pushed the three daggers beneath the futon to avoid touching them again with my bare skin. Breathing a small sigh of relief, I stood and headed out to the practice lawn. Although I was up earlier than usual, I was the first person up and about in the morning each day, and I used this time to do my own sword practice.

I preferred to practice when no one else was up for several reasons. First of all, there were no distractions. I could concentrate completely on my routines. But I felt the second reason was more important. I did not want Yahiko to see me. I knew he had a misplaced admiration for my killing techniques and I did not want him to try to replicate my exercises. 

I sighed as I slipped on my sandals and stepped out into the cool predawn air. I really could not blame him; I had felt the same way when I was his age.

"Kenshin," Sano said as he sauntered in through the gate.

"Sano," I said in surprise. "I did not know you got up so early, that I did not."

He laughed as he approached me. "It's not so much getting up early. More like staying out late," he said with a grin. "I was going to wait until after I had gotten some sleep, but I didn't think you'd be up."

"For what?" I asked, looking up at the younger man's face.

"We need to talk."

"Yes, I seem to be getting a lot of that," I muttered to myself. "Would you like some tea?" I started to head back into the dojo.

"No," Sano said once inside and we both sat down. "You're bleeding!" he said suddenly.

I looked down and noticed rather belatedly that my foot was bleeding where the dagger had stabbed me. I felt a blush rising to my cheeks as I pulled off my now bloody sock to reveal a slit puncture wound in the instep of my left foot.

Sano was watching me with a worried expression on his face. I stood and pulled out a linen bandage from Miss Kaoru's stores. "It was nothing, really Sano," I said, wrapping the bandage around my foot tightly. "A bit of carelessness on my part."

Sano looked at me silently for a moment. "I've never known you to be careless, Kenshin. What's going on with you?"

All I seemed to be doing lately was assuring people that I was ok. I almost wished they didn't care so much about me. I did not deserve their concern.

"This isn't why you wanted to talk, Sano." I hoped he would accept the abrupt topic change.

Sano smiled and moved to hand me the last dagger. I did not take it, but looked at it curiously. "Where did you get that?"

"That," Sano said stretching his arms above his head, "is a story unto its self. I did put the other daggers in your room, though."

I raised my eyebrow to him. "I noticed," I said quietly.

"Anyway," Sano continued ignoring my reaction. "I recognized the work and I went to go see this guy. And from there I did some other investigating."

"You were up all night investigating?" I said disbelieving.

"Well, I did some other things," he admitted. "But I did find out a lot. This group, the Black Asps, they call themselves, is richly backed. They've got at least two extremely wealthy benefactors. They've been active in Kyoto for years, many as a thieving organization. Recently they've come under new command and they are getting bolder."

"Which is why they left Kyoto," I guessed. The Kyoto police were a formidable group and they did not take sedition lightly.

"Right," Sano said. "So now they've got money, too. Now it seems they are going to try to kill off as many government officials as they can in one blow. That's why they are after you."

"What?" I asked, surprised. "They should have no problem causing plenty of trouble without me."

"That's the beauty of this group," Sano said with a grin. "In a twist of supreme irony, these anarchists are incredibly well organized. They want to go high in the government. Real high. They think they need you, and they are going to continue threatening you until you agree."

I frowned at this. Even as the Hitokiri Battousai, not just anyone with money could hire me. So why did they think they could?

Sano watched me carefully. "They seem to think they've practically won you over already."

"What gave them that idea?" I asked.

"You killed one of their men," he said avoiding my eyes. "I suppose most people would not take that as a good sign, but these guys…" He trailed off.

…think that I'm back in the killing trade, I finished the sentence in my head. I gave a frustrated groan and held my head between my palms. I pushed my bangs out of my eyes with a weary sigh. Why couldn't people just leave me alone?

"Kenshin," Sano said. "Don't worry about this. I'll do what I can to help the police on this. You just worry about yourself and Yahiko and Kaoru."

I gave him a small smile and hoped it did not look too forced. "No, Sano. I need to deal with this, too."

"What about Kaoru?" Sano asked.

"It's no longer a problem," I answered. "Where are they?"

Sano smiled and threw his hands up in the air. "No one seems to know exactly."

The conversation ended there and we sat in companionable silence for a long time. After a while I noticed Sano was fast asleep sitting up, a bit of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. With a smile I half carried, half dragged him into the guest room, which luckily was right there.

Then I went out into the practice yard, hopeful that the concentration needed for my exercises would clear my mind for a blissful hour or so.

A/N: Ok, not much action again, sorry. Next chapter though, I promise. This is kind of a boring chapter but it's needed or else I'd have to have Kenshin go figure all this stuff out. I thought it'd be easier if I just let Sano do the explaining. I wonder if people actually read these. I do whenever I'm reading fanfiction so that's why I bother at all. I mean, if I just said, "Whug a lugi Bula," would anyone notice? Hmm…


	9. Close Call

Hey, thanks to Midako. I assure you I did not mean for the fighter to have a picture of a mars bar on his sleeve. And it isn't cruel! I hate typos and I'd rather you let me know than just ignore. (Not to mention I know that some one is actually reading this!) And so Vielen dank. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kaoru's POV

The past few days have been very stressful for all of us I think. I have not gotten a full night's sleep since I was attacked two days ago and even Sano has been more somber than usual. Of course, that's relative.

Anyway, in an effort to relieve some tension, I decided to treat everyone to a dinner out at the Akabeko. I was even nice enough to let Yahiko have a little break this afternoon, not that he appreciated it.

We started towards town a few hours before sunset. Everything seemed blissfully normal for the first time in a long while. Yahiko called me inappropriate names and I attempted to beat some sense into him while Kenshin made a valiant, but fruitless effort to keep the peace. Sano occasionally butted in with an asinine comment.

Dinner also went by uneventfully for which I was even more thankful. I wished that things could continue this smoothly, but I knew this was only temporary, a small lull in the violence I knew was coming.

We left the Akabeko just as the sun began to set. The sky was bright orange and the clouds appeared almost purple. Unfortunately, the peaceful evening came to an end, sooner than I had imagined it would.

Kenshin paused just outside the small restaurant's door. "I'm sorry Miss Kaoru, but I have some things I'd like to see to while I'm in town, that I do. You three go home and I'll see you later."

Sometimes I wish Kenshin would just say what he really meant. I knew, of course, that by 'things' he meant that crazy band of fighters and by 'see to' he most likely meant confront. Violently. Unfortunately, I had given up all control over this situation and it could not be regained. _This was all Sano's fault_, I thought irrationally.

"You want any company?" Sano asked casually.

Kenshin hesitated a moment, glancing at Yahiko and I. _Oh, don't worry about us now_, I thought, almost angrily. _We'll be just fine_. I pursed my lips and folded my arms in annoyance. "Ok," Kenshin said in that infuriatingly calm tone of his.

__

Ok!? He was going to leave us alone, just like that! I thought as he and Sano turned the opposite way of home and started walking.

"Good night, Miss Kaoru, Yahiko," Kenshin said softly, looking back with a small wave. As we turned to head back home, Yahiko seemed more than a bit miffed as well, although I suspected that was because he did not like to miss seeing Kenshin fight.

I briefly considered following Kenshin but I was dressed for dinner not action. Kimonos designed for street fighting. Going home was really the only option.

As we walked, my irritation faded and was now easily recognizable for what it had been all along: worry. I was almost physically sick with worry. Part of me laughed at that. Kenshin was more than capable of taking care of himself. But the rest of me knew that something about these guys got to Kenshin, and I doubted even he knew exactly why that was.

Sano's POV 

We walked in silence for a while. Kenshin was a step or two ahead, leading the way, so I could not see his face. He was walking confidently and without any sign of a limp. I did not think the cut on his foot was particularly serious, but sometimes it only took one small annoying wound to change the tide of a fight.

"So what's the plan?" I asked once I realized I didn't even know where we were going. "Do you know where to find these guys?"

"No," he answered without looking back. "They will probably find us first."

"Oh." I cracked my knuckles almost happily. These guys were really starting to get on my nerves and I was anxious to do some annoying of my own.

Kenshin was right. After only a few more moments, I noticed we were being followed. I did not say anything to Kenshin; he had probably known well before I did. He kept on walking though, and I was sure he would not make the first move.

It was twilight now and the streets were empty. The dockside is not the friendliest neighborhood and the only people out now were people able to take care of themselves, thieves, and idiots. I wondered briefly if we fit into the first or last category. 

As we rounded a street corner, we saw a single man standing in the center of the street. His fists were resting on his hips and he had an arrogant grin plastered on his face. I noticed a very small insignia of a black snake on the arm of his tunic. There was a sword at his waist.

Kenshin did not even pause but continued walking till he was almost past the man. Then, just as Kenshin past him completely, the man's arm shot out in a rapid movement. I just barely saw the flash of metal as Kenshin's sword sliced downward and toward the other man.

I exhaled slowly. I had not even seen him draw his sword. Kenshin's sheer speed and amazing reflexes never ceased to amaze me. The blade and part of the hilt of the other man's dagger hit the street with a metallic clang.

It had a long, thin blade, useful only for assassinations not combat. The other man dropped back and drew his sword as Kenshin turned to face the man head on. "Coward," Kenshin growled.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck go on end. Kenshin does not growl. But he had, and it was a terrible sound.

The red-haired rurouni lunged forward with a yell. His opponent dodged nimbly to the side and holding his sword down, deflected the attack. The man was nearly as fast as Kenshin and that was the only reason he had been able to evade the attack.

Kenshin turned and rounded on the man again. The next attack, Kenshin would not hold back any of his speed, and his opponent knew it. I could just barely make out the amber irises of his eyes by the dim evening light. _Stay in control, Kenshin_, I thought fervently.

This time, the other swordsman went on the offensive, probably hoping to catch Kenshin off guard. He moved forward fluidly with an undercut movement. This was block easily by Kenshin's sword. With a heave, the nameless fighter was pushed backward. He fell on the street. Kenshin took the step forward and raised his sword again. A killing blow.

"Kenshin, no!" I yelled as soon as I saw this. Then everything in the world seemed to move in slow motion as several things happened at once. Kenshin looked at me as if coming out of a trace. His eyes went wide as he looked at something beyond me. On a reflex, I turned swiftly as I felt something stab me through the back.

I grunted in surprise as I saw a small man dressed all in black holding a short sword. I felt the strangest sensation as I began to fell lightheaded. Without thinking, I pulled my fist back and punched the man in the jaw with all the strength I had, which seemed significantly less than normal.

The man flew backwards and landed in a heap several yards away. Suddenly everything around me seemed to spin uncontrollably. The next thing I saw was Kenshin's face. He seemed to be saying something but there was a loud rushing in my ears and I couldn't hear him. _Hm_, I thought just before blackness claimed me, _his eyes are lilac again_.

A/N: Once again, I must apologize for the sucky nature of my fight scenes. But hey! At least there is some action, huh? I'm sorry this chapter took me so long. And it's probably not even going to be posted until tomorrow. You see, the phone company thought that it would be cheap to use above ground cables, under ground. Now if that all that technical mumbo-gumbo means that they did a very stupid thing. So now, if the ground is too wet, I can't get online because there is too much interference. Smart, right? Anyway, it's raining right now; all part of monsoon season in Pennsylvania I guess. Thanks for the reviews, honestly I think I not have written this chapter at all today except I got two more reviews, and guilt got the better of me.


	10. Suspense Building

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Megumi's POV

I sat out on the steps in front of the clinic enjoying the crisp evening air in a rare moment of silence in my busy day. The clinic's last patient had left a few moments ago, giving me my first chance to rest all day. I tilted my head up toward the sky and let the soft breeze run through my hair.

Suddenly I whipped my face toward the gated path leading up to the clinic doors. I could hear heavy breathing and the sound of something scraping slowly against the road. I stood and took a hesitant step forward.

"Who's there?" I called out.

There was a pause. "Miss Megumi?" I recognized the strained voice of Himura Kenshin. I felt my stomach churn in dread. I grabbed the hem of my kimono and ran to the gate. Opening it, I could make out Kenshin's slight form holding up a limp body.

"Sanosuke!" I breathed in shock. I ran forward and took his other arm and threw it over my shoulder. Kenshin and I quickly carried the unconscious man into the clinic. As Kenshin quickly lit some more of the lanterns, I ripped open Sanosuke's bloody shirt.

"Oh, god," I whispered to myself. I could see a small wound on the side of his abdomen, but it was clearly an exit wound. "We need to turn him over." Kenshin came over with another lantern for light and we, as gently as possible, turned him onto his stomach. I winced as I saw a gaping bloody wound in his broad back. I examined it carefully in the poor light. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

"What?" Kenshin asked from across the room. I glanced up at him quickly. His face was hidden under shadows. All I could see was his bloody clothing. I hoped fervently that he was not hurt because I needed to focus on Sanosuke.

"It missed his kidneys," I explained as I started to work. "It's still very bad, but I think I can … keep him alive." My hands moved quickly without too much direction from my mind. He had lost a good deal of blood, which was why he was unconscious. All I could do was try to control the bleeding as I sewed him back together. _Sanosuke, what happened to you?_

As I worked, Kenshin stood silently and watched me. He said nothing, offered no explanation. Finally, Sanosuke's wounds were as good as I had skill to make them. "Kenshin," I called him over. He stepped over toward me. "Help me turn him back over." Carefully, so as not to reopen the wounds I had just sewn shut, we got Sanosuke on his back. "Here, lift his shoulders a bit." Kenshin moved to Sanosuke's head and obeyed me silently. I deftly wrapped long strips of linen around his torn abdomen.

I finished and Kenshin laid Sanosuke's head down carefully. I turned to Kenshin. "Are you hurt?" He did not look up from the unconscious man before him as he shook his head. Glancing down at his hands, I saw that his knuckles were torn and bloody.

"Here," I said as I took him by the wrist and led him over toward a wash basin full of warm water. He did not flinch as I carefully cleaned his hands and wrapped them in clean linen. I'd never heard of Kenshin using his fists in a fight.

When I finished he looked up and gave me a small forced smile. "Thank you, Miss Megumi." I smiled back at him. He really looked awful. The right half of his clothing had been completely soaked in Sanosuke's blood from Kenshin carrying him. He looked tired and his eyes did not seem to focus on anything. The fact that he had come out of his stupor long enough to thank me though, reassured me he was all right. We were only in trouble when Kenshin ceased being polite.

I stood up and pulled a clean set of extra clothing out from one of the cupboards. "Here Kenshin, why don't you change? I'll be right back, ok?"

He gave me a small appreciative nod and I stepped outside. I hurried over to one my assistants' living quarters and asked her to tell Kaoru that Sanosuke and Kenshin were here. I stepped back into the dark clinic.

The extra set of clothing was right where I had left it. "Kenshin?" I said to the now empty room. Silence. I sighed, and turned back to Sanosuke as he stirred on the pallet. I knelt beside him and reached to touch his face.

He groaned softly and opened his eyes a little. I smiled with relief. "How do you feel?" I asked, gently ruffling his soft hair.

"Hungry," he said softly. 

I gave him a wry grin. _Yeah, he was going to be just fine_, I thought to myself.

Kenshin's POV

Mistakes:

First of all, I allowed Sano to come with me. Because of the misguided notion that I could keep myself under control if someone was with me, I had seriously endangered his life just by allowing him to come.

Secondly, I lost control, nearly ending in the loss of two lives.

Lastly, I had been sloppy. Someone had been following us, and I did not say anything because I assumed Sano would know. Maybe he did, but even so, I allowed myself to forget that. That bothered me. When it came to situations like this, details never escaped me, but this one had.

That list ran through my head over and over as I walked down the empty streets of Tokyo. I was going to end this tonight. This entire conflict had been tearing me apart inside and I was willing to risk a total loss of control just to finish it. If I ended up killing every single anarchist I found, this would end. I only prayed I could finish it without losing myself in the rage.

I stopped dead in my tracks. _You are doing it again_, I told myself. _The angrier you allow yourself to get, the harder it is to keep control_. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. The linen wrapped around my hands bunched up as I dimly remembered punching the pavement beside Sano as his blood flowed down the street. All that frustration and anger came back to me in an intense wave.

Taking a few deep breaths, I got myself under control. Slowly, I pulled the linen wrappings from my hands. They would only compromise my grip on the hilt of my sword.

I continued on my way until I was back at the intersection where a few hours ago, we had been attacked. I paused, waiting for any sign of the Asps. I did not have to wait long. Two young and obviously drunk men rounded the corner a few minutes later. They paused when they saw me, and I noticed two small insignia on each of their arms. The black asp.

"Excuse me," I called to them. "I'd like to speak with your leader. Could you please tell me where I could find him?"

The two men looked at me like I was crazy. Being polite was obviously a bit of a mistake, I suppose. One of the men, the older, and I believe, drunker of the two, took a lurching step forward. "Hey lissten, guy!" he said. His speech was slurred and difficult to understand. "Our bosse don't want bothered by every guy in Tokyo!" He then laughed as though he had made a very funny joke.

I sighed in frustration. I did not have time to be messing around with these fools! 

Apparently my frustration showed through, because the other man quickly wiped the grin off his face and said, "I'll go get him, then." He turned and hurried into one of the nearby buildings, while his friend staggered down the street and disappeared at the closest bar.

I stood in the pale moonlight waiting for the chief anarchist. It would start as talk, but I knew it would end in a fight. I knew that I could win the fight, but I feared losing my soul in the process.

A/N: Ah, corny ending, I know. I must apologize to all Megumi fans. I don't know her character very well (as is obvious) but she was the best choice for the beginning of this chapter. And, yes, I know, she doesn't call him Kenshin, but that's his name, damn it, so that's what she's calling him here. Well, anyway, there's probably only one more chapter and maybe an epilogue, but I'm not too sure yet.

Note to Sanosuke Sagara: (No, not the character; I'm not off the deep end yet.) I never even considered killing off Sano! Two reasons for this: First, I hate character death. It's like playing with another kid's toy. You can play, but you can't break it. Secondly, I love Sano! You may have noticed that I love picking on him. But he is still one of my favorite characters. Anyway, I just needed to piss Kenshin off. I can't make it too easy on him.


	11. Final Confrontation

To answer Vegeta 26's question: I had meant to convey that Kenshin was attacked because he was recognized. When I went back and reread that scene, I see that I did not make that very clear. Sorry. Why they attacked will be explained in this chapter, because that I meant to be unclear earlier. I'll probably rewrite that scene at some point.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Kenshin's POV

I allowed my mind to relax completely. My eyes went out of focus and I concentrated on the empty void just behind my eyelids. I took deep, calming breaths. Despite everything I did, there was still that barely suppressed burning rage. _They had almost taken my best friend_.

Meditation, at this point, was going to get me nowhere. Maybe if I had more time, I could calm myself to the point of rationality. Of course, if I were being rational, I'd have that time.

Suddenly the door of the building I was watching opened, and a tall, rugged looking man stepped out onto the street. He gave me a lopsided grin as he shook his hand through his unkempt black hair.

"Himura Kenshin," he said as he walked towards me. He stopped a few yards away. "I thought we'd meet soon, but I admit, I thought you'd seen enough of us for one night."

I made sure my face stayed impassive as I answered. "I'm afraid your reputation does not precede you. Who are you?"

His face twitched at the insult. "Names aren't really important. We both know what we are and that's enough. I'm the leader of the Black Asps and you are an assassin I want to hire."

My hand suddenly itched to grip the sword at my side. I clenched my fist slowly. I was in control and I would not draw my sword until the threat had been made. "You know I am not for hire. You are a criminal and I will escort you to the police." I kept my voice carefully cold.

"I need you for a job. No one else will be able to pull it off."

"That's your problem, that it is," I said. "Will you come peacefully?"

He gave me a smile that told me what I already knew. This would end violently. Slowly, he drew his slightly curved sword. He gave me another smile. _He's bating me_, I realized suddenly_. He knows he won't win, but he wants me to kill him._

"Why do you want to die?" I asked in amazement.

"I'm tired of talking!" he yelled and suddenly lunged forward. I drew my sword and blocked his thrust in one fluid motion.

"Is you life so meaningless that you'd throw it away?" I said angrily as I dodged another attack. He was very fast and very agile, but his skill with the sword was crude. I took a few steps back as I continued to allow him to play the offensive. 

"Answer me!" I yelled, pushing his sword away.

He gave me another grin. "You don't get it? My life isn't important. As long as we can bring down this scheming Meiji government, I don't care what I have to pay."

I dodged to my right quickly. He was slowing down as he tired. 

"You are all so careless with your lives!" I yelled. "Two of your men have died to this pointless end!"

The man laughed. He actually laughed at me! We stood paces apart, the fight stopped for a moment. "Is that what angers you? I've learned a lot about you the past few months from watching you. I watched your fight with Yasou, the man you killed. It's that anger that makes you kill! Isn't it ironic that you killed someone because you were angry he didn't care about living!"

I lowered my sword slowly. It was true, I think. I had learned only recently the value of my own life. I don't know why, but suddenly I felt slightly light-headed. Then with more speed than I had thought the tired man could muster, he lunged forward.

I moved on instinct rather than design and rather than merely blocking him as I had been, I made a counterattack. I felt the familiar feel of my blade slicing through human flesh, and I saw the man's eyes widen in shock and pain.

Kaoru's POV

I ran through the dark streets of Tokyo faster than I thought I was capable of. Perhaps it was my panic that allowed me that speed. _Stupid Kenshin_, I thought angrily. _How dare you run off leaving Sano seriously hurt and all of us worried to death._

One of Megumi's assistants had come to the dojo about an hour ago telling Yahiko and I that Sano and Kenshin were at the clinic and that Sano was hurt. We had hurried over as quickly as we could, but Kenshin had already left.

I had followed him as quickly as I could. The only logical place he would have gone was back to where he and Sano had been attacked. It had taken a while to get a coherent description from the groggy Sano.

So now I was running faster than I ever had before to try to find Kenshin. I'm not sure exactly what I planned to find or how I planned to deal with it, but I knew I had to find Kenshin.

Suddenly I rounded the corner Sano had described to me. I stopped dead in my tracks at the scene in front of me. Kenshin was standing with his sword lowered and his back to me. A man's body lay in front of him and I could see blood on his sword blade.

"Kenshin," I whispered, my eyes wide and my mind working slowly in shock. He turned toward me slowly; his face was down and obscured by his long bangs. "What have you done?"

He raised his eyes to mine. I did not know what to think when I saw his amethyst eyes meet mine. "Miss Kaoru," he said with faint surprise. He wiped his bloody sword professionally on his already bloody hakama. He leaned over the body in front of him and slung it over his shoulder.

"This man needs Miss Megumi's skills if he is to recover completely." He took a few steps forward, readjusted the limp form, and then continued walking.

I stood there stupidly for a moment. "He isn't dead?"

Kenshin turned his head toward me and gave me the small rurouni smile I knew and loved. "No," he said with a small shake of his head. I sighed in relief and began following him back to the clinic. We walked in silence for a few moments.

"I don't understand all of this," I admitted quietly.

"Oro?" Kenshin said.

"Well, it's just that, why would they keep attacking you if they wanted to hire you? It doesn't make any sense." I chewed on my bottom lip.

Kenshin sighed and readjusted the man on his shoulders again. "In Tokyo, it is fairly common knowledge that I was the Battousai," he explained. "And my vow is not exactly secret, either. Apparently this man thought if I could be pushed into ignoring my vow, I would be up for hire."

I thought about that for a moment. "Was he right?"

"About what?"

"Would you have been for hire?"

He hesitated before answering. "Maybe, although I honestly do not know. I suppose it is not important anymore."

"Why?" I asked softly.

He turned to me again with that same smile. "I have no intention or fear of ever ignoring my vow again, that I don't."

A/N: Hurray!!! The end!!! If anyone wants it, I may do an epilogue filled with touchy-feely mush probably. I really hope this end was not terribly anti-climatic. Please review and let me know what you think of this fic. I really appreciate all the support every one has given me. 


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